Crossed Wires
by artemisfae
Summary: Lizzington. Tumblr prompt from yes-I-am-romantic. Post S2 finale. Liz realizes she's in love with Red, but before she tells him her feelings she sees him kissing another woman and leaves without his knowledge. Red is jealous because he sees her kissing Tom, but it's really a good-bye kiss. This leads to a fight and then it's Rated M. Angst, Fluff, and Smut


**A/N: This is from a Tumblr prompt that was requested by yes-i-am-romantic. This one's for you! There are a couple of timeline variations, like instead of days, it's a week, It just didn't mesh for the details that came out. But I hope this is alright! I've really only been writing fanfic for a few months, so turning prompts into a full length fic is still new.**

 **Also, everything was in a nice rated T package and then oopsie, It became rated M very quickly. I can't seem to help it:/**

 **This is post S2 finale.**

Liz had just return from a run around the small town where they had been staying for the last week. She was already in love with the town. The atmosphere, the residents were so welcoming and comforting during a time when so much was up in the air, unresolved.

She walked in to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of water when Red said "Well don't you just look fetching, glistening in the sunlight. It makes me wish that I didn't have to leave on an extended business trip."

She whirled around, slightly startled by his presence, but rolled her eyes at his words. The man was an incurable flirt. He's always been suggestive, but since they had left the states, Red was more and more comfortable with blatantly flirting. In truth, she loved it.

Not only for its monotony ending capabilities, but Red's flirting was reassuring that even after she changed so many things about herself he still found her attractive. But he did flirt with the old lady at the pastry shop so she'd give him an extra treat, so that assumption really meant nothing.

Liz's hair was blond and her eyes were now green thanks to contacts. Her hair was slightly longer though, having grown out quite a bit since they left six months ago.

"You're leaving?" She tried to hide the trepidation in her voice, but was unsuccessful, even to her own ears. They had nearly spent every waking moment together since that fateful day when she murdered a man to protect the one in front of her now.

He stood and hugged her to his side "You'll be fine. You love this town and you know very well that I have been driving you crazy making you listen to jazz every evening. You told me just two days ago that you were going to stab me in my sleep with a rusty knife, which by the way was the most erotic statement uttered to me in nearly a year."

She couldn't help but laugh "You were cheating at blackjack! I wasn't serious…then, but now…" She let her words trail off and Red laughed at her outrage. He pointed to himself "Criminals are notorious liars."

Her amusement died immediately "You've never lied to me."

"No…I haven't. And I never will. Counting cards doesn't fall into the realm of lying. It's a grey area."

His face when he spoke scrunched up so adorably that she wanted to grab his face and kiss it.

Maybe it was a good thing he was leaving, but she knew she would miss him terribly.

They had gotten their goodbyes out of the way and a car had come to pick up Red. There was a small airport a couple miles out of town where he was departing from.

She looked and saw a briefcase on the counter of the kitchen. He must have forgotten it.

She didn't have a vehicle, being so centrally located in the small town, but it would take less than twenty minutes if she jogged there. The case wasn't that heavy.

She took off reached the private airfield in eighteen minutes. The entire time, all she could think about was how much Red had come to mean to her and she needed to tell him how she felt. What if he was going somewhere dangerous? What if something happened to him? She knew that she was thinking illogically, but the more she thought about it, the more she needed to see him.

She loved Red. She slowed to a walk as she reached the airfield. He was probably going to laugh at her or tell her how stupid she was for daring to have feelings for him, but that didn't matter. All she could think of was that he'd gone the majority of his life thinking that no one cared for him. All that time traveling alone, thinking himself unworthy of love. That would no longer be the case. She would tell him, give him a scorching kiss goodbye, and leave before he could tell her that she was wrong to care for him.

She walked around the side of the hangar with a grin on her face. He would be so surprised.

She froze when she saw Red.

He was with a woman. At first she didn't think that it was a big deal, but then the woman threw herself at Red. It wasn't until Red laid the most erotic kiss she'd ever seen on the woman's lips, his tongue clearly tracing the outline of her lips and then thrusting it into her mouth.

Liz felt as if she were going to vomit. She turned and immediately ran back to the safe house.

She showered, the hottest, longest shower that she'd ever taken. She tried to scrub the memories of Red holding another woman from her memory by scrubbing her skin until it was red and raw. The shower was also effective at masking the tears that she could no longer hold back. She sank down into the shower, sobbing uncontrollably. She could barely breathe her chest felt so tight.

It was more than jealousy. She had let herself trust, dream of actually a future with him. She thought that he cared for her. The entire situation had driven home the fact that Raymond Reddington was incapable of love.

She knew that he cared enough to rescue her and take her into hiding, but that's all. If he had any romantic feelings for her at all, he wouldn't have kissed that woman.

Things were going to change, but before her and Red parted ways, there were a couple of skills that she needed to brush up on.

Every night for the past week, Liz had been sneaking around the town, honing her skills as a lock pick and thief. She never actually stole anything, not wanting to cause financial hardship in the town that she'd come to love, but she would move a vase over a few inches, take jewelry out of the case and lay it out.

Little things that would probably cause a rise in the amount of people seeking medical attention for dementia. If was fun. The thrill that breaking into a building unnoticed was unparalleled.

It kept her from thinking of Red…sometimes. It was three am and she was currently leaving the local mechanic's shop when a dark figure stepped out of the shadows. She had her knife drawn and at the figure's throat before he could even say "Hey, babe."

"Tom?" her whisper was not as quiet as she'd hoped. She took the knife off his jugular and drug him along with her. She didn't want him at her house, so she took him to a local covered bridge that was just down the road.

No townspeople were out this late, even the one bar was closed so she didn't have to worry too much about being spotted.

"What the hell are you doing here? How did you find me?" If Tom could locate her than others could too. She had heard nothing from the security team that she knew Red left in place. Unless he didn't leave them in place and had truly left her to fend for herself while he was off spelunking between the thighs of that bimbo she'd seen him with.

She was exponentially more heartbroken over that thought than of seeing Tom…Jacob…whomever he was this week.

"Relax. I am going under again and this time it's for a minimum of 3 years. I wanted to see. To see if what we did meant anything and if it so, I wanted you to wait for me."

She laughed, but muffled it with her hand while she collected her thoughts on how utterly ridiculous he was. "You're kidding, right? We had nothing. I scratched an itch and said good-bye that was all. What would possess you to think that I would EVER wait for you? We're done. I am…my heart breaks for the little boy who was taken from the streets and shown a life that he had no business being a part of. But my heart doesn't belong to you any longer. In all honesty, it hasn't for quite some time. You were, however, a comfort in your familiarity. Nothing more."

He looked so disappointed, almost like the old Tom, but she wouldn't let herself be drawn into his games. He was a master manipulator. "I know that's what you say, but I just had to be sure. What we had felt so real-"

"None of it was real, Tom. Deal with it." She wouldn't call him Jacob. He wasn't Jacob to her and he never would be. He was a man that no longer existed in her world. Tom was pretend and was dead. He had died the moment she said good-bye on the ship.

He stepped closer to her, cupped her cheek in his hand, and brushed a piece of hair off her cheek. She turned her head away from his touch. She wasn't particularly worried. If he tried to hurt her, her knife would be in his gut before he could finish what he started.

She gave him one last smile "I am leaving here soon anyways. Now that you've compromised me, you can go back from where you came and remember that what we had never really existed and no matter how much you wish the illusion was real, it was in fact, just an illusion."

He scoffed "You even sound like Reddington now. You know what? What we had may not have been real, but what I felt was real."

"You know what was real to me? You holding a gun to my head. That was a little too real. Good-bye."

Before she could pull away, he crushed her mouth to his. She couldn't even pretend to enjoy it. It made her skin crawl. All she could think of was their fight and his Nazi tattoos. Nope.

She pushed him away and let the shimmer of her knife catch the light so he would know that to try that again would be a mistake. She turned and melted into the shadows. She wouldn't be able to return to the safe house tonight.

Maybe it was time for her to practice surviving in the woods for a night.

Red knew that it was a mistake to leave Lizzie behind, but Stephanie had information that he needed. The Director was going to make a move soon and his vendetta was against Lizzie. No matter that Red had tried to draw him away from Lizzie by inviting all of those reporters to expose the dirty underbelly of the Cabal.

He was so tired of this game. Day after day of pretending that a forty-six year old blonde was Lizzie just so he could dote on her with some semblance of affection was getting old-fast. Stephanie was nothing, but if she thought for a second that he was making this effort on behalf of Lizzie rather than himself? She would turn in an instant, and he was far too deep in for that. Hell, he hadn't even been attracted to a blonde in two years.

Since her. _Lizzie_. He was anxious to get back to her. They had begun to climb a summit that would change their course for the rest of their lives. And he could wait. Her passion would light him on fire.

He'd burn a thousand times over to feel her against him.

He knew that her feelings had changed. The knowledge that she was beginning to feel what he had felt for so long was overwhelming.

This needed to end. But until then, a part he would play until the contact he had made came through with a location. Once he had that, he was gone. His phone pinged to signal that he had a message. He pulled his phone out and it was from his head of security. Lizzie's security.

When the pictures finally loaded, his chest felt as if a fist of ice squeezed him until he could no longer breathe. It was Liz, she was breaking into a building in one and in the other Tom, Tom was there and he was holding and kissing her.

He wanted to vomit.

He knew all about their little tryst on the boat. He knew that it was a good-bye a farewell to a life that never was. At least that's what it was on Lizzie's part. But then, that's what she told him it was. He now had evidence that was most certainly not the case.

His rage was a burning hole in the pit of his stomach. He left and she called Tom up for a good time of thieving and have sex. One part of him was disgusted, but the other part of him was worried for her safety.

The photo was grainy and she didn't have her arms around him. She was in danger regardless of the reason behind Tom's presence and he didn't work his ass off for the past six months securing her safety just so the Nazi could come and upend all of his work.

He was going to go there tonight and check on her. If she gave the ok, he would leave again and finish his mission.

No matter how much he disliked what she did. He had to keep her safe. It wasn't just a switch he could turn off. He'd been protecting her for so long it was just a reflex by now.

Lizzie hated the outdoors. She hated it more when she had to sleep in a tree. Plus, she was frozen. It may be more than comfortable during the day, but at night, it was frigid.

She waited until the streets started to come to life before making her way back to the house, she made sure to make her path a labyrinth that would make tailing her virtually impossible.

When she finally arrived, her eyes welled with tears. She was dirty, there were leaves in her hair, she was tired, but mostly she was sad. She hated the thought of leaving before Red returned because she knew she would most likely never see him again and that broke her heart.

The house was dark, but she let herself in and planned to fall into bed and sleep for the entire day.

"Did you have fun on your midnight romp…with Tom?"

She turned to find Red, sitting in the dark with a bottle of Whiskey. "What do you care?"

He stood "What do I care? I care enough to leave a deal that could possibly save both of us just to make sure that you are safe. What the hell did you think you were doing with him again? Are you that horny? Because we can take care of that real quick?"

His words hurt her more than she would ever let him know, but she couldn't quite stop the tears that fell from her lashes "You're one to talk. You leave me and go straight to the airport and stick your tongue down some blonde bimbo's throat! How dare you make this about me and what I've done! What have you done?! I love you, you asshole! But you went off to be with someone else because apparently I am not good enough! Well enjoy the rest of your trip. I am done. I am leaving and you won't have to worry about me ever again!"

She never meant to tell him how she felt. Maybe he didn't hear. Hopefully he was too drunk.

The blood drained from his face, his voice was broken "Wh-what did you say?"

So much for him not noticing. He stumbled to her and she put an arm out to steady him, but he was already too close. So close that she could feel his breath that was surprisingly minty fresh. "I thought you'd been drinking?" Maybe her deflection would distract him."

"I wanted to drink. I saw the pictures of you two and was worried, but then you weren't here, you chose to stay with him. I rushed back to you, endangered everything I've work for these last months, only to find that you decided to play house the minute I left to bribe a contact into giving me the location of the Director. I wanted to drink and fill the gaping hole I was left with after imagining you going back to him. But I couldn't. So I just sat here and felt sorry for myself. Pathetic, huh?"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her, really looked at her. "Lizzie, you are wearing…leaves in your hair. Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" His face became a thundercloud. She put her hand on his cheek "No, Red. I don't know how he found me. He wanted me to wait for him… I know, you don't need to look at me like that. I told him he was dead and then he grabbed me and kissed me, but I pulled away. I thought he would probably trail me so I slept in the woods. In a tree to be exact."

She might be mad at him, but she couldn't let him think that she had been so stupid…again.

He gave her no time to think, because before she could process that he didn't respond, he was kissing her in a meeting of tongues, lips, and teeth that made her tingle all the way to her toes.

"Red, I slept in the woods. I really need a shower." She was really self-conscious of how terrible she must look.

"Shut up, Lizzie, I'm trying to love you." He peppered kisses down her jaw to her neck, pulling her jacket and shirt off as he went. "Sweetheart, you're so cold. Good thing I know of a really good way to warm you up."

Her shirt came off and he was there, teasing her and driving her crazy. She tried to get him out of all of his layers, but he was too busy trying to get her out of hers.

They broke apart and by silent agreement took their clothes off and then all over each other. They bumped into walls, knocked down pictures their entire way to the bedroom.

The first one they come to was his. She pushed him down and straddled him. His hand came between them so that he could rub himself on her to tease her, it drove her wild. She nipped at his neck, down to his nipples and relished his groans of pleasure.

Soon he was inside of her and he was deep, so deep she could hardly breathe. She put a hand on her lower stomach. "Oh, god, just…give me a minute. I'm so full." She had never felt this full ever before.

"Take all the time you need. I'm here. Don't hurt yourself. You're in control here, I'm just along for the ride, baby." His words made her inner muscles quake and he hissed in a breath. "I just hope you don't take too long, or this is going to be over before it really even begins. You are so tight, your muscles fluttering around me feel like a vice. _Fuck._ " She moved then, too impatient to wait, needing more of him, all that he had to give.

"Ride me, Lizzie. Give it to me. Come on. I want to feel you." He put his thumb on her center and block spots danced upon her vision. She was already panting, jerking in her movements on top of him, but the circles he was drawing with his thumb pushed her over the edge with a keening cry.

He let her recover for a moment, still rock hard and pulsating within her. But he moved, turned with her in his arms so that he was on top of her. He kissed her. Slow and sweet, with reverence. She tightened around him, causing hips lips to turn urgent. "I love you, Lizzie. I love you so damn much."

His hands were on either side of her head as he lifted himself above her. He tunneled faster and harder inside of her. He would have moved her up on the bed had his hands not been there to stop her shoulders from moving.

She loved this, loved him. Seeing this passion inside of him, solely for her was empowering. "I love you, Red." She wanted to say more. To tell him that she was sorry for waiting for so long, but the fire was building again. "I'm so close Red. Please, more."

They reached their orgasm simultaneously. As soon as he felt her tightening around him, he came, calling her name like a prayer, a promise.

When she could finally form a coherent thought, she found herself tucked closely into his side. He rubbed her back as if to reassure himself that she was really here and this actually happened.

"This feels like a dream. This is my dream. There's nothing else I want more than us to be together."

"So much lost time. But don't worry, I won't hold it against you sweetheart."

She poked him in the ribs "I'm not the only one that had their wires crossed."

He laughed "You're right, but not anymore I don't"

Sighing, she said "Not anymore."

 **The End**

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


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